I purchased an M&P9c about a month or so ago and I chose one with the thumb safety. I am still fairly new to conceal carry and I personally liked the thumb safety for now. The shop owner told me that they could remove the safety whenever I wanted it done so that gave a me a piece of mind. When I bought this pistol, it was going to be my conceal carry pistol....after a short learning period, I realized that I wanted a smaller pistol for daily carry. I eventually bought a smaller gun and the M&P9c ended up being my home defense pistol with the 17-round mag and X-grip. I decided since it is for HD, the thumb safety would stay.